Page 70 of The Girl in the Woods

‘We’ll keep an eye on them,’ said Beth. ‘See you later.’

Ana decided she’d keep an eye on them, too.

Laine studied her reflection in the mirror. The pink chiffon dress hugged her slim waist perfectly, but the hair wasn’t right. Maybe she should wear it up in a bun. She’d read somewhere that boys liked to see a girl’s neck. It was sexier, the magazine said. After clipping it with a slide, she admired her reflection again. Another dab of blusher, and she was ready.

She removed a brown envelope from the bedside cabinet, took several five-pound notes from it, and slid it back into its hiding place. There would be more to replace that soon enough. One last look in the mirror convinced her that Sajid would change his mind.

Sajid had decided not to go to the fair until his mates persuaded him otherwise.

‘Sajid, you’re letting these racist bastards spoil your life. If it has to be us against them, so be it. There are five of us and four of them,’ said Kasem.

‘I don’t want a race war,’ argued Sajid.

‘Nor do we, bro,’ agreed Khalid, ‘but we ain’t gonna let them stop us from living. Anyway, they may not even be there.’

Sajid thought that wishful thinking, but he did want to go just to see Laine if nothing else. Everyone in the village was talking about how the local shop had been smashed up, and at first, when Sajid had heard they were wearing balaclavas, he’d wondered if it had been The Vigilante. Then he remembered how kind he’d been to him on the coach.

Now, he felt sure it had been Laine’s brother and his cronies. Huma had been severely shaken, Sajid’s dad had said.

Maybe the lads were right. They shouldn’t give in. Instead, they should show these bullies that they weren’t afraid of them.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

SEVEN YEARS EARLIER

Laurie entered the clinically white building with Anika’s hand clutched tightly in hers. This was their secret. It’s not like she would be punished. Some girls at school had said that God punished women if they had abortions, but Laurie didn’t believe in God. If there were a god, he wouldn’t have taken her mum away, not when she’d needed her the most.

Some days she felt numb with shock; others, she was so emotional she couldn’t stop crying. How could he have done this to her? She often wondered if her grief was for her mum, her unborn child, or maybe both.

How could she kill a child, but how could she keep it? While she was killing her baby, other mothers were shopping, buying cots and baby clothes. If only she could ask her mum what to do. Mum would have known, wouldn’t she?

Anika guided her to a chair in the warm waiting room. It was quiet and peaceful. It was hard for Laurie to imagine babies being killed here every day. She shuddered.

Anika gripped her hand tightly. ‘You okay, Laurie?’

Laurie nodded.

A nurse came out of one of the treatment rooms. She doesn’t look like a murderer, thought Laurie. The woman’s face was gentle, her eyes soft and caring. ‘Laurie McDuff,’ she said gently.

Laurie stood up and her legs turned rubbery. Anika supported her, and they followed the nurse into the treatment room.

‘Everything is going to be fine,’ the nurse said reassuringly.

Why did Laurie not believe her?

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

PRESENT DAY

‘Ray in the beer tent?’ asked Beth.

‘Where else?’ Sandy said, her cheeks flushed. ‘He’s been looking forward to the beer tasting for months.’ She drained her plastic cup of wine. ‘I’m off to get another. You want one?’

‘I’m on duty, remember?’

Sandy grimaced. ‘Oh yeah, I forgot, bad luck. I’m going to make the most of not having a toddler to race after. God bless babysitters.’

Beth made a tutting noise.

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